Seventeen stakes’ races on Saturday, four in the nation’s capital on Sunday, four in Adelaide on Monday, and not forgetting the Group III Newcastle Stakes on Friday, should test the stamina of the most ardent fan.
Among the many highlights is the promise that a challenger to Storm Boy’s throttle on the Golden Slipper could emerge from the Todman Stakes at Randwick.
The leading first-season sires list makes good reading for Victorians, with Royal Meeting (IRE) leading the pack from Alabama Express.
While all but about $40 of Royal Meeting’s total of $1,671,880, comes from Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Hayasugi, Alabama Express has cast his net far wider with the Group III Ottawa Stakes winner Karavas, Poster Girl, who was runner-up to Storm Boy in the Group III BJ McLachlan Stakes, Ascot winner Glasgow Lass, the NZ winner Alabama Lass, who was runner-up in the Group II Matamata Breeders Stakes, and the star of the show, Shangri la Express.
The winner on debut of the Kirkham Plate (1000m) at Randwick, Shangri la Express graduated to the $1million Inglis Golden Gift at Rosehill.
Following a 14-week break, the son of Alabama Express lost his unbeaten record when second to Switzerland in the Pierro Plate at Randwick. He meets Coolmore Stud’s $1,500,000 son of Snitzel again in the Group II Todman Stakes.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have three in the race. Shangri la Express is third choice behind the Silver Slipper winner Straight Charge (Written By) and the Breeders’ Plate winner Espionage, a $1million purchase for the James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership, which also has the $1.6 million I Am Invincible colt Bodyguard in the race.
To add further interest, two enormously impressive debut winners, All Inclusive (All Too Hard) and Getafix (Calyx), will have a throw at the stumps.
Straight Charge carries the colours of Yulong Stud, which also has an interest in Shangri la Express, a $220,000 purchase for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing/Kestrel Thoroughbreds from the Yulong draft at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
The near black colt is the second foal and first runner for the winning Lonhro mare Sent From Above, a daughter of Gooree Stud’s Group III MRC Thoroughbred Club Stakes and Group III STC Birthday Card Stakes winner Gamble Me (Rock Of Gibraltar).
Yulong purchased Sent From Above for $125,000 from the Gooree Park Stud draft at the 2020 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale.
Gamble Me is a granddaughter of the Mr Prospector mare Looking For Gold, a sister to the champion racehorse and sire Seeking The Gold, and a half to Grade 1 Remsen Stakes winner Fast Play (Seattle Slew).
A dual Grade 1 winner and first or second in 14 of his 15 starts, Seeking The Gold left a lasting legacy at stud.
Among his 92 stakes winners were the champions Flanders and Heavenly Prize, who, like her sire, carried the famous silks of the Phipps family.
Seeking The Gold’s best son was Dubai Millennium, who left the champion stallion Dubawi in a tragically short career.
After foaling a Written Tycoon colt last spring, Sent from Above revisited Alabama Success.
